Amazon creates fun-size Amazon Go store

The store opened in Seattle today but will be available only to Amazon employees and their guests for now. An Amazon spokeswoman said these small-format stores "can be as compact as 450 square feet." Comparatively, the original Amazon Go store is 1,800 square feet.

Amazon Go is the company's new twist on in-store retail, letting customers swipe their phones at turnstiles at the front, take whatever they want and avoid waiting in line. It has the potential to end checkout lines and put cashiers out of work, but so far the number of stores is still tiny. Walmart is also testing a version of this store concept.

The new store, at the Macy's Building on Pine Street, is the eighth Amazon Go location Amazon has opened since January, and the fourth in Seattle, the company's hometown. This format could be used to cram Go stores into airports, as Reuters suggested in a story earlier this week, or other tight locations, like subway stations.